If you were asked to name a Super Nintendo game starring a bobcat, chances are that most folks would answer you Bubsy. Well believe it or not, Bubsy ain't the only bobcat in town around here. His name is one, Bonkers D. Bobcat, and preventing crime (or plain getting into sticky situations) is his game. For a Capcom title, this came out with very little fanfare. You almost forget it exists. Let's take a closer look then shall weDid I go bonkers for Bonkers? [You're bonkers, me thinks -Ed.]

THE STORY GOES...

One dark stormy night...

[Of course, it had to be -Ed.]

Behold: Magic Lamp, Sorcerer's Hat and Mermaid's Voice!

"HE-HE-HE-HE!"

Never trust a ghost with a mallet my dad always used to say

Lightning strikes and thunder rumbles... and of course, the prized treasures go missing!

Meanwhile, somewhere in the city...

[There's a winning combo if I ever saw one -Ed.]

Bonkers' middle name "D" might just stand for DESTRUCTION!

Or dangerous. Or delusional. Or deadly. Or dumb!

Somehow I'm getting flashbacks of Carl Winslow & Steve Urkel...

Peep the date -- nearly 17 years ago today, wow time flies

The one... the ONLY... [thank goodness -Ed.]...

"Hey pal, I got way more PURRSONALITY than you!" -Bubsy

THE GAME

I like the Salsa. Makes Bonkers dash a bit like Sonic

This is the first stage you face. Standard platforming fare ensues!

After 1st stage you choose where to tackle next. I recommend this

Fun and varied stage. Lots to do, love dashing through the glass

The toughest regular level. Kitchen and ice bit's pretty cool stuff

After defeating these levels, you go to face the menacing Collector. But he's not the final boss. It's Father Time himself! Or perhaps Grandfather Time. It's all easier than making Cup of Noodles, but it's not a bad game at all

Peace and prosperity win out in the end, all through the land

WHAT THE CRITICS SAID

A far cry from Capcom's other efforts, especially when compared to another title the firm also released in 1994: Demon's Crest, which is one of the best SNES games out there

EGM gave it ratings of 7, 7, 7, 7, 6 while Super Play scored it 74%

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Never rented Bonkers back in the day, but do recall seeing the preview in EGM and DieHard GameFan. Wasn't one of those SNES games I wanted to play badly but never did, but a small part of me was curious about it. Although I wasn't a fan of the cartoon show, I was a big fan of simple, colorful platformers. I still am today, in fact. It's such a PURE genre in my opinion. It doesn't take much for me to enjoy a hop 'n bop adventure. So when I finally played Bonkers some 16 years after it was released,I was hoping to *maybe* find an underrated, overlooked hidden gem. You don't hear much (if at all) of Bonkers in the SNES community. It just never gets brought up in the discussion. Of good games. Of bad games. Of games you might have missed. It's just... forgotten. So, I was somewhat excited loading up this game. Besides, coming from the ever mighty arm of Capcom, especially during their SNES heyday and in the peak of their programming prime of 1994, I did not expect anything LESS than at least a very solid platformer. Unfortunately, it must have been Capcom's C-staff who worked on this game, and not the same masterminds who brought us past SNES classics such as Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts andDemon's Crest. The game just feels like it was half-assed a bit. Graphics are pretty good, though not up to Capcom snuff nor late '94 SNES standards. The same can be said for the game's sound and gameplay. You just expect more coming from Capcom, and you expect more from a game that came out in late 1994. Unfortunately, the game falls a little flat

But to the game's good points and credit, it's not like it disgraces Capcom or the Super Nintendo, either. You've seen it all before, like Bonkers sliding further into a Jell-O dessert, bombs that pop balloons to reveal goodies, a dash feature (that's slightly cumbersome to use), extra hearts, typical varied worlds, an ice section, classic SNES cutesy visuals and so on. After going through this game, I see why no one ever mentions it. It's not good enough to be lumped into the overlooked or underrated or hidden gem category, yet it's not so darn bad that it gets mentioned in the same breath along with cruddy titles like Ultraman or Pit Fighter. It's definitely not a classic. So its fate, then, is somewhere roughly right in the middle of the pack... along with about... 100 other SNES games. Decent, but ultimately, forgettableBonkers: Stuck in neutral